Multi-user mimo receiver and method for receiving data units over a wideband channel

ABSTRACT

A multiple-input multiple output (MIMO) receiver includes circuitry to receive a MIMO transmission through a plurality of antennas over a channel comprising two or more 20 MHz portions of bandwidth. The MIMO transmission comprises a plurality of streams, each transmitted over a corresponding spatial channel and configured for reception by multiple user stations. The MIMO receiver also includes circuitry to simultaneously accumulate signal information within at least two or more of the 20 MHz portions of bandwidth. Each 20 MHz portion comprises a plurality of OFDM subcarriers. The MIMO receiver also includes circuitry to demodulate at least one of the steams using receive beamforming techniques. In this way, multi-user protocol data units can be received.

PRIORITY CLAIM

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/007,887, filed on Jan. 17, 2011, which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/749,902, filed on Dec. 29, 2003, nowissued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,885,178, all of which are incorporated hereinby reference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present invention pertain to wireless electroniccommunications, and in some embodiments, the present invention pertainsto orthogonal frequency division multiplexed communications.

BACKGROUND

Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) is an example of amulti-carrier transmission technique that uses symbol-modulatedorthogonal subcarriers to transmit information within an availablespectrum. Many modern digital communication systems, including wirelesslocal-area networks (WLANs), are using symbol-modulated orthogonalsubcarriers as a modulation scheme to help signals survive inenvironments having multipath reflections and/or strong interference.One problem with many conventional systems that use symbol-modulatedsubcarriers is that channel bandwidth is limited to the bandwidth of theindividual channels. Some conventional wireless communication systems,such as WLANs that implement OFDM communications, communicate usingchannels that may only have about a 20-MHz bandwidth. Thus, there aregeneral needs for systems and methods for receiving wider bandwidthcommunications.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The appended claims are directed to some of the various embodiments ofthe present invention. However, the detailed description presents a morecomplete understanding of embodiments of the present invention whenconsidered in connection with the figures, wherein like referencenumbers refer to similar items throughout the figures and:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a receiver in accordance with someembodiments of the present invention;

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate subchannel analog-to-digital convertercircuitry in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a heterodyne frequency generator in accordance withsome embodiments of the present invention;

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate subchannel analog-to-digital convertercircuitry with corresponding amplifiers in accordance with someembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates radio-frequency (RF) and front-end circuitry inaccordance with some embodiments of the present invention;

FIGS. 6A, 6B and 6C illustrate timing diagrams in accordance with someembodiments of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of a signal reception procedure in accordancewith some embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description and the drawings illustrate specificembodiments of the invention sufficiently to enable those skilled in theart to practice them. Other embodiments may incorporate structural,logical, electrical, process, and other changes. Examples merely typifypossible variations. Individual components and functions are optionalunless explicitly required, and the sequence of operations may vary.Portions and features of some embodiments may be included in orsubstituted for those of others. The scope of embodiments of theinvention encompasses the full ambit of the claims and all availableequivalents of those claims. Such embodiments of the invention may bereferred to, individually or collectively, herein by the term“invention” merely for convenience and without intending to voluntarilylimit the scope of this application to any single invention or inventiveconcept if more than one is in fact disclosed.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a receiver in accordance with someembodiments of the present invention. Receiver 100 may be part of awireless communication device and may receive orthogonal frequencydivision multiplexed (OFDM) communication signals. In some embodiments,receiver 100 may receive an OFDM symbol on a wideband communicationchannel. The wideband channel may comprise one or more subchannels. Thesubchannels may be frequency-division multiplexed (i.e., separated infrequency) and may be within a predetermined frequency spectrum. Thesubchannels may comprise a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers. In someembodiments, the orthogonal subcarriers of a subchannel may be closelyspaced OFDM subcarriers. To achieve orthogonality between the closelyspaced subcarriers, the subcarriers of a particular subchannel may havea null at substantially a center frequency of the other subcarriers ofthat subchannel.

In accordance with some embodiments, the subcarriers may have beensymbol-modulated in accordance with individual subcarrier modulationassignments. This may be referred to as adaptive bit loading (ABL).Accordingly, one or more bits may be represented by a symbol modulatedon a subcarrier. The modulation assignments for an individual subchannelmay be based on the channel characteristics or channel conditions forthat subcarrier, although the scope of the invention is not limited inthis respect. In some embodiments, the subcarrier modulation assignmentsmay range from zero bits per symbol to up to ten or more bits persymbol. In terms of modulation levels, the subcarrier modulationassignments may comprise, for example, binary phase shift keying (BPSK),which communicates one bit per symbol, quadrature phase shift keying(QPSK), which communicates two bits per symbol, 8 PSK, whichcommunicates three bits per symbol, 16-quadrature amplitude modulation(16-QAM), which communicates four bits per symbol, 32-QAM, whichcommunicates five bits per symbol, 64-QAM, which communicates six bitsper symbol, 128-QAM, which communicates seven bits per symbol, and256-QAM, which communicates eight bits per symbol. Modulationassignments with higher communication rates per subcarrier may also bereceived.

An OFDM symbol may be viewed as the combination of the symbols modulatedon the individual subcarriers. Because of the variable number of bitsper symbol modulated on a subcarrier and the variable number ofsubchannels that may comprise a wideband channel, the number of bits perOFDM symbol may vary greatly.

In accordance with some embodiments, receiver 100 receives radiofrequency (RF) signals through RF and front-end circuitry 102. Circuitry102 may filter the RF signals received through antenna 142 withband-pass filter (BPF) 144. Circuitry 102 may also amplify the RFsignals with low-noise amplifier (LNA) 148. RF signals 103 provided bycircuitry 102 may be downconverted to baseband (e.g., zero-frequency) byin-phase (I) mixer 104 based on heterodyne frequency 117 generated byheterodyne frequency generator 116. The baseband signals for theI-channel may be amplified by baseband amplifier 106.

Subchannel filter selection switch 108 may couple baseband signals 107to a selected one of a plurality of subchannel low-pass filters 110.Subchannel low pass filters 110 may accumulate signal information froman associated one of the subchannels during a filter-input samplinginterval. During the filter-input sampling interval, heterodynefrequency generator 116 provides one of a plurality of heterodynefrequencies to convert RF signal 103, which may be received within aselected subchannel, to baseband signal 107. This may allow thedownconversion of the proper subchannel frequency to baseband. Theaccumulated signal information from each subchannel may be individuallyprovided by subchannel filters 110 to analog-to-digital convertercircuitry 126 for conversion to digital signals 115.

For the quadrature-phase (Q) channel component, RF signals 103 may bedownconverted to baseband (e.g., zero-frequency) by mixer 154 based onheterodyne frequency 119 generated by heterodyne frequency generator116. Heterodyne frequency 119 may be shifted in phase by substantiallyninety degrees by phase shifter 118. The baseband signals may beamplified by baseband amplifier 156. Subchannel filter selection switch158 may couple the baseband signals to a selected one of a plurality ofsubchannel low-pass filters 160. Subchannel low-pass filters 160 mayaccumulate signal information from an associated one of the subchannelsduring a filter-input sampling interval. The accumulated signalinformation from each subchannel may be individually provided bysubchannel filters 160 to analog-to-digital converter circuitry 166 forconversion to digital signals 165.

Digital signal processor (DSP) 120 may, among other things, perform fastFourier transforms (FFTs) for each subchannel on digital signals 115 and165 (i.e., both the I and the Q channel components). In someembodiments, FFT circuitry of DSP 120 may generate a parallel group oftime-domain samples for each symbol-modulated subcarrier that maycomprise each of the subchannels. In some embodiments, DSP 120 mayinclude a plurality of FFT processing elements.

In some embodiments, DSP 120 may include an FFT processing element foreach subchannel. In these embodiments, an FFT for each subchannel may beperformed for an OFDM symbol received over a subchannel.

In other embodiments in which receiver 100 operates as a genuinemultichannel receiver, FFTs may be performed for OFDM symbols receivedover more than one subchannel. In these embodiments, the FFTs do notneed to start their processing simultaneously.

In some embodiments, system controller 122 may generate subchannelselection signal 124 for use by subchannel filter selection switches 108and 158 and for use by heterodyne frequency generator 116. In theseembodiments, the selected subchannel low-pass filter may be associatedwith a selected subchannel. Heterodyne frequency generator 116 may beresponsive to subchannel selection signal 124 to generate one of aplurality of heterodyne frequencies to downconvert RF signals 103 withina corresponding one of the subchannels during a filter-input samplinginterval. Subchannel filter selection switch 108 may also be responsiveto subchannel selection signal 124 to switch among subchannel low-passfilters 110, allowing each subchannel filter to accumulate signalinformation received from an associated subchannel during thefilter-input sampling interval. In some embodiments, the subchannellow-pass filters may work in parallel separately accumulating signalinformation from each subchannel. In some embodiments, subchannel filterselection switches 108 and 158 may provide signal energy to the selectedsubchannel low-pass filter during a filter-input sampling interval,allowing the selected subchannel filter to accumulate signal informationand update its state.

In some embodiments, the filter-input sampling interval may be occur foreach subchannel at least as often as the inverse of a bandwidth of thesubchannel, although the scope of the present invention is not limitedin this respect. The filter-input sampling interval may be selected tohelp assure that signal information from the subchannels is not lostduring the sampling of the other subchannels. In some embodiments thathave approximately 20-MHz subchannels, a filter-input sampling intervalmay occur at least once every 50 ns allowing signal information to beaccumulated for each subchannel once every 50 ns, although the scope ofthe present invention is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, receiver 100 may be a wideband channel receiver forreceiving OFDM signals in a wideband channel comprising one or more ofthe frequency-separated subchannels. In these embodiments, eachsubchannel low-pass filter may be associated with one of thesubchannels. In some embodiments, the subchannel low-pass filters mayhave a filter bandwidth of approximately half the subchannel bandwidth.For example, when the subchannels have a subchannel bandwidth ofapproximately 20-MHz, the subchannel low-pass filters have a 3 dB filterbandwidth of approximately 10-MHz, although the scope of the inventionis not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, each of subchannel low-pass filters 110 and each ofsubchannel low-pass filters 160 may be substantially identical. Forexample, in some embodiments, all subchannel low-pass filters may havethe same cutoff frequency and discrimination order, and they may be ofthe same filter type. Examples of suitable filter types includeelliptical filters, Tchebyshev filters, and Butterworth filters,although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, analog-to-digital converter circuitry 126 maycomprise whole-channel analog-to-digital converter 114 and subchannelfilter output selection switch 112 (i.e., for the in-phase channelcomponents). In these embodiments, analog-to-digital converter circuitry166 may comprise whole-channel analog-to-digital converter 164 andsubchannel filter output selection switch 162 (i.e., for thequadrature-phase channel components). Subchannel filter output selectionswitch 112 may be responsive to subchannel filter output selectionsignal 125 and may provide an accumulated signal output from a selectedone of subchannel low-pass filters 110 to whole-channelanalog-to-digital converter 114. Subchannel filter output selectionswitch 162 may also be responsive to subchannel filter-output selectionsignal 125 and may provide an accumulated signal output from a selectedone of subchannel low-pass filters 160 to whole-channelanalog-to-digital converter 164. In some embodiments when the widebandchannel comprises up to four or more subchannels, whole-channelanalog-to-digital converters 114 and 164 may comprise at least 9-bitanalog-to-digital converters having a sampling rate of at least as greatas a bandwidth of the wideband channel. In the case of an up to 80-MHzwideband channel, whole-channel analog-to-digital converters 114 and 164may have sampling rates of at least 80-MSPS, although the scope of theinvention is not limited in this respect.

Whole-channel analog-to-digital converters 114 and 164 may generate acombination (i.e., not the sum) of signals sampled from the subchannels.For example, in the case of four subchannels, every fourth (time-domain)sample provided by whole-channel analog-to-digital converters 114 and164 may be associated with the same subchannel. As an example,whole-channel analog-to-digital converters 114 and 164 may be suitablefor providing samples from four 20-MHz subchannels, two 40-MHzsubchannels, one 80-MHz wideband channel, although the scope of theinvention is not limited in this respect.

Subchannel filter output selection signal 125 may cause switch 112 toswitch between outputs of subchannel low-pass filters 110 and may causeswitch 162 to switch between outputs of subchannel low-pass filters 160allowing subchannel low pass filters 110 and 160 to be sampled at leastonce every filter-output sampling interval. The filter-output samplinginterval is explained in more detail below.

Although whole-channel analog-to-digital converters 114 and 164 areillustrated as having an 11-bit resolution, this is not a requirementand whole-channel analog-to-digital converters 114 and 164 with lower orgreater resolutions may also be suitable. Embodiments which receive agreater number of subchannels may utilize whole-channelanalog-to-digital converters 114 and 164 with greater resolutions and/orsampling rates. In other embodiments, discussed in more detail below, asingle-channel ADC may be used for each subchannel with lower samplingrates and/or lower resolutions, which may help reduce cost, among otherthings.

In some embodiments, receiver 100 may determine which subchannels of awideband channel are being used to convey an OFDM symbol. In theseembodiments, signal detectors may be utilized at the output ofsubchannel low-pass filters 110, 160 to detect which of the subchannelsare simultaneously conveying information. Further signal processing,including analog-to-digital conversion, may be refrained from beingperformed on inactive subchannels.

In some embodiments, RF and front-end circuitry 102 may compriseattenuator 146 in the RF signal path responsive to subchannel selectionsignal 124 to attenuate the RF signal. The attenuation level may beselected on a per-subchannel basis to provide a normalized signal levelfor the analog-to-digital conversion in circuitry 126 and 166. The useof a normalized signal level across the subchannels may allow the use oflower resolution analog-to-digital converters.

In some embodiments, heterodyne frequency generator 116 comprisesfixed-frequency voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) 132 to generate aconstant reference frequency, and a direct digital synthesizer (DDS) 134to generate a selected one of a plurality of stepped frequencies inresponse to subchannel selection signal 124. Heterodyne frequencygenerator 116 may also comprise frequency combiner 136 to combine thereference frequency and the selected one of the stepped frequencies togenerate heterodyne frequency 117 to downconvert RF signals within theselected subchannel to baseband signals. In some embodiments, heterodynefrequency generator 116 may further comprise phase-locked loop (PLL)synthesizer 140 and frequency divider 138 to operate with VCO 132 togenerate heterodyne frequency 117. Other configurations for selectivelygenerating heterodyne frequencies may also be suitable for use withembodiments of the present invention. In some embodiments in whichsubchannels are separated in frequency by approximately 20-MHz, thestepped frequencies generated by DDS 134 may be in 20-MHz steps,although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the frequency spectrums for a wideband channel maycomprise subchannels in either a 5 GHz frequency spectrum or a 2.4 GHzfrequency spectrum. In these embodiments, the 5 GHz frequency spectrummay include frequencies ranging from approximately 4.9 to 5.9 GHz, andthe 2.4 GHz spectrum may include frequencies ranging from approximately2.3 to 2.5 GHz, although the scope of the invention is not limited inthis respect, as other frequency spectrums are also equally suitable.

In some embodiments, receiver 100 may be part of a personal digitalassistant (PDA), a laptop or portable computer with wirelesscommunication capability, a web tablet, a wireless telephone, a wirelessheadset, a pager, an instant messaging device, an MP3 player, a digitalcamera, an access point or other device that may receive and/or transmitinformation wirelessly. In some embodiments, receiver 100 may receive RFcommunications in accordance with specific communication standards, suchas the IEEE 802.11 (a), 802.11 (b), 802.11 (g/h) and/or 802.16 standardsfor wireless local area networks, although receiver 100 may also besuitable to receive communications in accordance with other techniquesincluding the Digital Video Broadcasting Terrestrial (DVB-T)broadcasting standard, and the High performance radio Local Area Network(HiperLAN) standard. Antenna 142 may comprise one or more directional oromnidirectional antennas, including, for example, dipole antennas,monopole antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas or other type ofantenna or combination thereof suitable for reception of RF signalswithin a frequency spectrum to be received by receiver 100.

Although embodiments of the present invention are described as beingsuitable for reception and processing of OFDM signals, the scope of thepresent invention is not limited in this respect. Other embodiments maybe suitable for receiving and processing signals having other types ofmodulation formats.

Although receiver 100 is illustrated as having several separatefunctional elements, one or more of the functional elements may becombined and may be implemented by combinations of software-configuredelements, such as processing elements including digital signalprocessors (DSPs), and/or other hardware elements. For example,processing elements may comprise one or more microprocessors, DSPs,application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and combinations ofvarious hardware and logic circuitry for performing at least thefunctions described herein.

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate subchannel analog-to-digital convertercircuitry in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.In these embodiments, analog-to-digital converter circuitry 226 may besuitable for use as analog-to-digital converter circuitry 126 (FIG. 1),and analog-to-digital converters 266 may be suitable for use asanalog-to-digital converter circuitry 166 (FIG. 1). In theseembodiments, analog-to-digital converter circuitry 226 may comprise aplurality of individual subchannel analog-to-digital converters 214 forthe I-phase channel components, and analog-to-digital convertercircuitry 266 may comprise a plurality of individual subchannelanalog-to-digital converters 264 for the Q-phase channel components.Each subchannel analog-to-digital converter 214 may receive anaccumulated signal output from a corresponding one of subchannellow-pass filters 110 (FIG. 1), and each subchannel analog-to-digitalconverter 264 may receive an accumulated signal output from acorresponding one of subchannel low-pass filters 160 (FIG. 1).

In some embodiments, individual subchannel analog-to-digital converters214 and 264 may comprise at least 9-bit analog-to-digital convertershaving sampling rates of at least as great as a bandwidth of asubchannel. In some embodiments in which the subchannels have bandwidthsof approximately 20-MHz, the sampling rate may be at least 20 MSPS.Although individual subchannel analog-to-digital converters 214 and 264are illustrated as 11-bit individual subchannel analog-to-digitalconverters, this is not a requirement and embodiments of the presentinvention may be implemented with individual subchannelanalog-to-digital converters having lower or greater resolutions.

The resolutions of individual subchannel analog-to-digital converters214 and 264 may be estimated from the modulation order and the number ofsubcarriers of a subchannel. In the case of 64-QAM modulation, for eachof the subcarriers, at least three bits of resolution for each I and Qcomponent may be required. When a subchannel includes forty-eight datasubcarriers, six additional bits of resolution may be required (e.g.,the ceiling of base 2 log of 48). Accordingly, in this example,approximately nine bits of resolution may be provided by each ofindividual subchannel analog-to-digital converters 214 and 264.Additional resolution may be added for improved noise handling, and asoft decision capability may also be added for decoding. In general, aconventional “single” channel receiver, which may process a widebandchannel as a single channel, may require an additional 2-bit (fourtimes) resolution to achieve similar accuracy. This may be significantlymore expensive.

In some embodiments, an attenuation level provided by an attenuator,such as attenuator 146 (FIG. 1), may be selected on a per-subchannelbasis to provide a normalized signal level for the selected subchannelfilter and a corresponding one of the subchannel analog-to-digitalconverters 214 and 264. The normalized subchannel signal levels mayallow the use of lower resolution analog-to-digital converters.

The use of individual subchannel analog-to-digital converters, insteadof a single analog-to-digital converter, such as whole-channelanalog-to-digital converters 114 (FIG. 1) and 164 (FIG. 1), may allowthe use of analog-to-digital converters with lower sampling rates and/orlower resolutions. This may help significantly reduce manufacturingcosts.

FIG. 3 illustrates a heterodyne frequency generator in accordance withsome embodiments of the present invention. Heterodyne frequencygenerator 316 may be suitable for use as heterodyne frequency generator116 (FIG. 1), although other heterodyne frequency generators may also besuitable. Heterodyne frequency generator 316 comprises a plurality ofindividual heterodyne frequency generators 302, each of which mayinclude fixed-frequency voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) 332. Eachfixed-frequency voltage-controlled oscillator 332 may generate a singleheterodyne frequency for downconverting a particular subchannel.Heterodyne frequency generator 316 may also comprise subchannelheterodyne switch 304 to select a heterodyne frequency from one ofindividual heterodyne frequency generators 302 in response to subchannelselection signal 324. In some embodiments, subchannel selection signal324 may correspond to subchannel selection signal 124 (FIG. 1).

In some embodiments, each of individual heterodyne frequency generators302 may comprise phase-locked loop synthesizer 340 and frequency divider338 to operate with voltage-controlled oscillator 332 to generate theheterodyne frequency. Other configurations for selectively generatingheterodyne frequencies are also suitable for use with embodiments of thepresent invention.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate subchannel analog-to-digital convertercircuitry with corresponding amplifiers in accordance with someembodiments of the present invention. In these embodiments,analog-to-digital converter circuitry 426 may be suitable for use asanalog-to-digital converter circuitry 126 (FIG. 1), andanalog-to-digital converter circuitry 466 may be suitable for use asanalog-to-digital converter circuitry 166 (FIG. 1). In theseembodiments, analog-to-digital converter circuitry 426 may comprise aplurality of individual subchannel analog-to-digital converters 414 andassociated amplifiers 412 for the I-phase channel components, andanalog-to-digital converter circuitry 466 may comprise a plurality ofindividual subchannel analog-to-digital converters 464 and associatedamplifiers 462 for the Q-phase channel components. Each subchannelanalog-to-digital converter 414 may receive an amplified accumulatedsignal output from a corresponding one of subchannel low-pass filters110 (FIG. 1), and each subchannel analog-to-digital converter 464 mayreceive an amplified accumulated signal output from a corresponding oneof subchannel low-pass filters 160 (FIG. 1).

In accordance with some embodiments, amplifiers 412 and 462 may amplifythe accumulated signal outputs based on gain control signals 402 foreach subchannel. In these embodiments, an attenuator in the RF signalpath, such as attenuator 146 (FIG. 1), is not necessarily requiredbecause the gain of amplifiers 412 and 462 may be set to provide anormalized signal level to the analog-to-digital converters.

In some embodiments, the individual subchannel analog-to-digitalconverters 414 and 464 may comprise at least 9-bit analog-to-digitalconverters having sampling rates of at least as great as a bandwidth ofa subchannel. In some embodiments in which the subchannels havebandwidths of approximately 20-MHz, the sampling rate of theanalog-to-digital converters may be at least approximately 20 MSPS. Theuse of gain control signals 402 to normalize the output may allow theuse of lower resolution analog-to-digital converters. Althoughindividual subchannel analog-to-digital converters 414 and 464 areillustrated as having a resolution of 11-bits, this is not arequirement. Individual subchannel analog-to-digital converters 414 and464 with greater and lesser resolutions may also be suitable.

FIG. 5 illustrates RF and front-end circuitry in accordance with someembodiments of the present invention. RF and front-end circuitry 502 maybe suitable for use as RF and front-end circuitry 102 (FIG. 1), althoughother circuitry may also be suitable. In these embodiments, a receiver,such as receiver 100 (FIG. 1), may utilize more than one ofspatially-diverse antennas 542 to “divide” a single subchannel into oneor more spatial channels. In some embodiments, each antenna 542 mayreceive signals from one spatial channel. In some embodiments, eachspatial channel may be used to communicate separate or independent datastreams on the same subcarriers as the other spatial channels, allowingthe reception of additional data without an increase in frequencybandwidth. In other embodiments, each spatial channel may be used tocommunicate the same data as the other spatial channels. In theseembodiments, the use of spatial channels may take advantage of themultipath characteristics of a particular subchannel. In someembodiments, the spatial channels may be non-orthogonal channels (e.g.,may overlap in frequency and or time) and in some embodiments, eachspatial channel may use the same subcarriers as the other spatialchannels.

In some embodiments, an OFDM symbol may be received over a singlesubchannel comprising a plurality of spatial channels. Each spatialchannel may comprise the same set of orthogonal subcarriers. In someembodiments, a single subchannel may have a bandwidth of approximately20-MHz, although the scope of the invention is not limited in thisrespect.

In some embodiments, RF circuitry 502 may comprise antenna selectionswitch 540 to select one of antennas 542 in response to spatial channelselection signal 524. In these embodiments, which may be referred to asopen-loop multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) embodiments, each ofantennas 542 may correspond to one of the spatial channels. In someembodiments, circuitry 502 may filter the RF signals received throughantennas 542 with an associated one of band-pass filters (BPFs) 544,although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect. Insome embodiments, each of subchannel low-pass filters 110 (FIG. 1) maybe associated with one of the spatial channels, and each of subchannellow-pass filters 160 (FIG. 1) may also be associated with one of thespatial channels. In these embodiments, the individual subchannellow-pass filters may accumulate signal information from a particularspatial channel during a filter-input sampling interval. Spatial channelselection signal 524 may correspond to subchannel selection signal 124(FIG. 1) and may cause antenna selection switch 540 to select an antennafor receiving each spatial channel during the filter-input samplinginterval.

In some embodiments, which may be referred to as closed-loop MIMOembodiments, the spatial channels may be orthogonal spatial channels,and a one-to-one correspondence between antennas 542 and spatialchannels is not required. In these embodiments, the orthogonal spatialchannels may be generated with beamforming techniques at thetransmitter, and received using beamforming techniques at the receiver.In these embodiments, DSP 120 (FIG. 1) may be configured to performreceiving beamforming to extract the information from the orthogonalspatial channels, which can be referred to as orthogonalization ofspatial channels. The use of orthogonal spatial channels may help reducecrosstalk between spatial channels in comparison with open-loopembodiments.

In some embodiments, a heterodyne frequency generator may provide asingle heterodyne frequency to convert RF signals of the singlefrequency subchannel to baseband signals. The spatial channel low-passfilters may accumulate signal information for a corresponding one of thespatial channels during the appropriate filter-input sampling interval.

FIGS. 6A, 6B and 6C illustrate timing diagrams in accordance with someembodiments of the present invention. FIG. 6A qualitatively depicts twoconsecutive 50 ns sampling intervals. Each 50 ns time interval may be afilter-input sampling interval and may include a sampling subintervalfor each subchannel. First filter-input sampling interval 602 may be atthe end of a current OFDM symbol, and filter-input sampling interval 604may be at the beginning of a next OFDM symbol. In this example, receiver100 (FIG. 1) may receive four signals 606, 608, 610 and 612 from foursubchannels simultaneously. Signal 614 illustrates the sum of signals606, 608, 610 and 612, which may be viewed as the overall signal comingon a wideband channel (which is 80-MHz in this example).

Signal 606 during filter-input sampling subinterval 616 (i.e., from 0 nsto 12.5 ns) may be downconverted to baseband using a controlledheterodyne frequency. During sampling subinterval 616, both I and Qsubchannel filter selection switches 108 and 158 may connect theiroutputs respectively to a first subchannel low-pass filter (for both theI and Q channel components, respectively) and the baseband signals fromthe first subchannel are filtered.

In next filter-input sampling subinterval 618 (i.e., from 12.5 ns to 25ns), signal 608 may be downconverted to baseband using a controlledheterodyne, and both I and Q subchannel filter selection switches 108and 158 may connect their outputs to a second subchannel low-pass filter(for both the I and Q channel components, respectively), and thebaseband signals from the second subchannel are filtered.

In the next filter-input sampling subinterval 620 (i.e., from 25 ns to37.5 ns), signal 610 may be downconverted to baseband using a controlledheterodyne, and both I and Q subchannel filter selection switches 108and 158 may connect their outputs to a third subchannel low-pass filter(for both the I and Q channel components, respectively), and thebaseband signals from the third subchannel are filtered.

In the next filter-input sampling subinterval 622 (i.e., from 37.5 ns to50 ns), signal 612 may be downconverted to baseband using a controlledheterodyne, and both I and Q subchannel filter selection switches 108and 158 may connect their outputs to a fourth subchannel low-pass filter(for both the I and Q channel components, respectively), and thebaseband signals from the fourth subchannel are filtered.

This process may be performed for each subchannel and is not limited tothe example of four subchannels. This process may also be repeated atleast as often as the inverse of the bandwidth of a subchannel, althoughthe scope of the invention is not limited in this respect.

Wideband signal processing with a synchronous switching of heterodynefrequency and subchannel low-pass filters may result in the subchannellow-pass filter output signal level to be just about the same as if itwere obtained using a separate subchannel receiver for each subchannelnormalized for the associated subchannel. In some cases when there arefour subchannels, the subchannel low-pass filter output level may beabout four-times less than the output level of a low-pass filter in anequivalent single subchannel receiver, because about one-fourth of thesignal energy is accumulated by the subchannel low-pass filters. Littleor no signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) degradation may occur, because thenoise power may also be reduced by a factor of about four, keeping theSNR about the same as for a single subchannel receiver. In someembodiments of the present invention, power loss may be compensated byproviding additional gain before subchannel low-pass filters 110(FIG. 1) and 160 (FIG. 1). Circuitry 426 (FIG. 4A) and circuitry 466(FIG. 4B) illustrate examples of this, although the scope of theinvention is not limited in this respect.

Although filter-input sampling intervals 602 and 604 are 50 ns intervalsillustrated as having four sampling subintervals of 12.5 ns, this is nota requirement as it illustrates embodiments having four 20-MHz bandwidthsubchannels comprising a wideband channel of having an 80-MHz bandwidth.Accordingly, the scope of the present invention is not limited in thisrespect. In some embodiments, the length of intervals 602 and 604 dependon the subchannel bandwidth, and the number of sampling subintervals maydepend on the number of subchannels in a wideband channel.

FIG. 6B illustrates attenuator signal output in accordance with someembodiments of the present invention. Signal levels received ondifferent subchannels may have different average power levels, which mayresult in different signal levels at the output of the subchannellow-pass filters. Higher resolution analog-to-digital converters aregenerally required to digitize such signals. Higher resolutionanalog-to-digital converters tend to be very expensive. In someembodiments, a per-subchannel automatic gain control may be implementedwith an attenuator, such as attenuator 146 (FIG. 1). As illustrated inFIG. 6B, attenuator output signal 624 during subinterval 616 may providean attenuation level to normalize the input signal to a first subchannellow-pass filter to within the dynamic range of a subsequentanalog-to-digital converter. During subinterval 618, the attenuatoroutput signal may be changed based on the signal level from the nextsubchannel. This process may be performed during a filter-input samplinginterval for each subchannel and may provide a more normalized outputfor analog-to-digital conversion, allowing the use of lower resolutionanalog-to-digital converter circuitry.

In alternate embodiments, instead of a selectable attenuator in the RFsignal path, baseband amplifiers with automatic gain control may beprovided before the subchannel low-pass filters. An example of this isillustrated in FIGS. 4A and 4B.

FIG. 6C illustrates baseband signal inputs to subchannel low-passfilters in accordance with embodiments of the present invention.Baseband signal inputs 626, 628, 630 and 632 may correspond respectivelyto subchannel signals 606, 608, 610 and 612 received respectively duringsampling subintervals 616, 618, 620 and 622. As illustrated, basebandsignal inputs 626, 628, 630 and 632 may be normalized to within therange of a subsequent analog-to-digital converter. Subchannel signals606, 608, 610 and 612 are also illustrated as being sampled respectivelyduring sampling subintervals 634, 636, 638 and 640 of next interval 604at the beginning of the next OFDM symbol. In some embodiments, thesampling for a subchannel may be repeated at least as often as theinverse of a bandwidth of a subchannel, although the scope of thepresent invention is not limited in this respect. The filter-inputsampling interval may be selected to help assure that signal informationfrom the subchannels is not lost during the sampling of the othersubchannels. In the examples illustrated in FIGS. 6A, 6B and 6C with20-MHz subchannels, a sampling interval may occur for each subchannel atleast once every 50 ns, although the scope of the invention is notlimited in this respect.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of a signal reception procedure in accordancewith some embodiments of the present invention. Procedure 700 may beperformed by a receiver, such as receiver 100 (FIG. 1) to receive anOFDM symbol over one or more subchannels comprising a wideband channel.

In operation 702, RF circuitry of a receiver may simultaneously receiveRF signals over one or more subchannels. Operation 702 may be performedby RF circuitry 102 (FIG. 1), although the scope of the invention is notlimited in this respect.

In operation 704, a heterodyne frequency may be generated to downconvertthe RF signals in the first subchannel to baseband. The properheterodyne frequency may be generated for the first subchannel inresponse to a subchannel selection signal which may select the firstsubchannel. In some embodiments, baseband signals for an I-channel andQ-channel may be generated. Operation 704 may be performed by heterodynefrequency generator 116 (FIG. 1), although the scope of the invention isnot limited in this respect.

In operation 706, the baseband signals may be provided to a subchannellow-pass filter associated with the first subchannel. A subchannelfilter selection switch may be responsive to the subchannel filter inputselection signal to provide the baseband signal to the proper subchannellow-pass filter. Operation 706 may be performed by subchannel filterselection switches 108 and 158 (FIG. 1), although the scope of theinvention is not limited in this respect.

In operation 708, the selected subchannel low-pass filter may accumulatesignal information from the baseband signal during a portion of afilter-input sampling interval. During the filter-input samplinginterval time, the selected subchannel low-pass filter may update itsstate. Operation 708 may be performed during a portion of thefilter-input sampling interval which may be repeated at least as oftenas the inverse of the subchannel bandwidth. Operation 708 may beperformed by one of subchannel low-pass filter 110 (FIG. 1) for theI-channel component, and one of subchannel low-pass filters 160 (FIG. 1)for the Q-channel component, although the scope of the invention is notlimited in this respect.

Operation 710 performs an analog-to-digital conversion on theaccumulated signal output of the first subchannel low-pass filter.Operation 710 may be performed by analog-to-digital conversion circuitry126 (FIG. 1) for the I-channel component, and analog-to-digitalconversion circuitry 166 (FIG. 1) for the Q-channel component, althoughthe scope of the invention is not limited in this respect. In someembodiments, operation 710 may perform an analog-to-digital conversionon the accumulated signal output of the first subchannel low-pass filterduring a filter-output sampling interval.

Operation 712 generates the subchannel filter input selection signal toswitch to a next subchannel, and operations 704 through 708 may berepeated for the next subchannel. The subchannel selection signal may begenerated by a system controller, such as system controller 122 (FIG.1), although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect.Operations 704 through 708 may be performed for each subchannel duringthe subchannel input sampling interval. Operation 710, on the otherhand, may be performed for each subchannel for each filter-outputsampling interval. The filter-input sampling interval and the subchanneloutput sampling interval may be at least as great as the inverse ofsubchannel bandwidth. In the case of 20-MHz subchannels, these samplingintervals may occur less than about every 50 ns, allowing operations 704through 710 to be performed for each subchannel, at least once every 50ns. Although subchannel input sampling interval and the subchanneloutput sampling interval may be equal, nothing requires this. Subchanneloutput sampling interval may be based on a multiple of the subchannelbandwidth to allow FFT processing. Subchannel input sampling intervalmay be selected to, among other things, decrease unwanted impulsedisturbances from the RF portion of receiver 100 (FIG. 1) to the ADCsand the DSP.

Once enough samples are received, operation 714 performs an FFT on thedigital signals generated from the subchannels (and for both the I and Qchannel components) to demodulate an OFDM symbol for subsequent use ingenerating a decoded bit stream. Operation 714 may be performed by DSP120 (FIG. 1), although the scope of the invention is not limited in thisrespect.

In some embodiments, procedure 700 may further comprise selecting anattenuation level in response to the subchannel selection signal toprovide a normalized baseband signal level at the inputs of thesubchannel low-pass filters. In other embodiments, procedure 700 mayfurther comprise providing a gain control signal to baseband amplifiersto normalize the baseband signal level inputs of the subchannel low-passfilters.

In some other embodiments, procedure 700 may be performed by a receiverto receive an OFDM symbol over a single subchannel comprising aplurality of spatial channels. In these embodiments, each of a pluralityof spatially diverse antennas may receive signals from one spatialchannel. In some embodiments, each spatial channel may be used tocommunicate separate or independent data streams on the same subcarriersas the other spatial channels, allowing the reception of additional datawithout an increase in frequency bandwidth. In other embodiments, eachspatial channel may be used to communicate the same data as the otherspatial channels.

Although the individual operations of procedure 700 are illustrated anddescribed as separate operations, one or more of the individualoperations may be performed concurrently, and nothing requires that theoperations be performed in the order illustrated.

Embodiments of the invention may be implemented in one or a combinationof hardware, firmware and software. Embodiments of the invention mayalso be implemented as instructions stored on a machine-readable medium,which may be read and executed by at least one processor to perform theoperations described herein. A machine-readable medium may include beany non-transitory computer-readable storage device for storinginformation in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). Forexample, a machine-readable medium may include, read-only memory (ROM),random-access memory (RAM), magnetic disk storage media, optical storagemedia, flash-memory devices and other storage devices.

The Abstract is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. Section 1.72 (b)requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to ascertain the natureand gist of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with theunderstanding that it will not be used to limit or interpret the scopeor meaning of the claims.

In the foregoing detailed description, various features are occasionallygrouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamliningthe disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted asreflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments of the subjectmatter require more features than are expressly recited in each claim.Rather, as the following claims reflect, invention lies in less than allfeatures of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims arehereby incorporated into the detailed description, with each claimstanding on its own as a separate preferred embodiment.

1. (canceled)
 2. A multiple-input multiple output (MIMO) receivercomprising: receiver circuitry to receive a MIMO transmission through aplurality of antennas over a wideband channel comprising two or more 20MHz channels that provide a bandwidth of at least 40 MHz, the MIMOtransmission comprising a plurality of streams, each stream of the MIMOtransmission being transmitted by one of a plurality of user stations;and signal-processing circuitry to separate the plurality of streams ofthe MIMO transmission.
 3. The MIMO receiver of claim 2 wherein thewideband channel has a bandwidth of 40 MHz contiguous bandwidth, andwherein at least one of the streams comprises a transmission from one ofthe user stations over the 40 MHz contiguous bandwidth.
 4. The MIMOreceiver of claim 2 wherein the wideband channel has a bandwidth of 80MHz contiguous bandwidth, and wherein at least one of the streamscomprises a transmission from one of the user stations over the 80 MHzcontiguous bandwidth.
 5. The MIMO receiver of claim 4 wherein thewideband channel comprises two 40 MHz channels.
 6. The MIMO receiver ofclaim 2 wherein the wideband channel has a bandwidth of 160 MHzcontiguous bandwidth, and wherein at least one of the streams comprisesa transmission from one of the user stations over the 160 MHz contiguousbandwidth.
 7. The MIMO receiver of claim 2 further comprising circuitryto simultaneously accumulate signal information within each 20 MHzchannel of the wideband channel and provide the accumulated signalinformation to the signal processing circuitry.
 8. The MIMO receiver ofclaim 2 further comprising circuitry to accumulate signal informationacross the wideband channel and provide the accumulated signalinformation to the signal processing circuitry, wherein for receiving aMIMO transmission over a 40 MHz bandwidth, the circuitry to accumulatesignal information is configured to accumulate signal information overthe 40 MHz bandwidth, wherein for receiving a MIMO transmission over an80 MHz bandwidth, the circuitry to accumulate signal information isconfigured to accumulate signal information over the 80 MHz bandwidth;and wherein for receiving a MIMO transmission over a 160 MHz bandwidth,the circuitry to accumulate signal information is configured toaccumulate signal information over the 160 MHz bandwidth.
 9. The MIMOreceiver of claim 2 further comprising circuitry to accumulate signalinformation across the wideband channel and provide the accumulatedsignal information to the signal processing circuitry, wherein when thewideband channel has a bandwidth of 40 MHz contiguous bandwidth, atleast one of the streams comprises a transmission from one of the userstations over the 40 MHz contiguous bandwidth and the circuitry toaccumulate signal information is configured to accumulate signalinformation over the 40 MHz contiguous bandwidth, wherein when thewideband channel has a bandwidth of 80 MHz contiguous bandwidth, atleast one of the streams comprises a transmission from one of the userstations over the 80 MHz contiguous bandwidth and the circuitry toaccumulate signal information is configured to accumulate signalinformation over the 80 MHz contiguous bandwidth, and wherein when thewideband channel has a bandwidth of 160 MHz contiguous bandwidth, atleast one of the streams comprises a transmission from one of the userstations over the 160 MHz contiguous bandwidth and the circuitry toaccumulate signal information is configured to accumulate signalinformation over the 160 MHz contiguous bandwidth.
 10. The MIMO receiverof claim 8 wherein the wideband channel comprises: a primary channelhaving a 20 MHz portion of bandwidth; and a secondary channel having abandwidth of one or more 20 MHz portions of bandwidth.
 11. The MIMOreceiver of claim 10 wherein the signal processing circuitry isconfigured to perform receive beamforming to separate the plurality ofspatial streams, and wherein the signal processing circuitry comprisesfast-Fourier transform (FFT) circuitry to perform an FFT on signalsreceived in each of the 20 MHz channels.
 12. The MIMO receiver of claim11 wherein the MIMO transmission is an uplink spatial-divisionmultiplexed transmission.
 13. A method for multiple-input multipleoutput (MIMO) reception comprising: receiving a MIMO transmissionthrough a plurality of antennas over a wideband channel comprising twoor more 20 MHz channels that provide a bandwidth of at least 40 MHz, theMIMO transmission comprising a plurality of streams, each stream of theMIMO transmission being transmitted by one of a plurality of userstations; and separating the plurality of streams of the MIMOtransmission.
 14. The method of claim 13 wherein the wideband channelhas a bandwidth of 40 MHz contiguous bandwidth, and wherein at least oneof the streams comprises a transmission from one of the user stationsover the 40 MHz contiguous bandwidth.
 15. The method of claim 13 whereinthe wideband channel has a bandwidth of 80 MHz contiguous bandwidth, andwherein at least one of the streams comprises a transmission from one ofthe user stations over the 80 MHz contiguous bandwidth.
 16. The methodof claim 15 wherein the wideband channel comprises two 40 MHz channels.17. The method of claim 13 wherein the wideband channel has a bandwidthof 160 MHz contiguous bandwidth, and wherein at least one of the streamscomprises a transmission from one of the user stations over the 160 MHzcontiguous bandwidth.
 18. The method of claim 13 further comprisingsimultaneously accumulating signal information within each 20 MHzchannel of the wideband channel and providing the accumulated signalinformation for signal processing.
 19. A multiple-input multiple output(MIMO) receiver comprising: a plurality of antennas; receiver circuitryto receive a MIMO transmission through the plurality of antennas over awideband channel comprising two or more 20 MHz channels that provide abandwidth of at least 40 MHz, the MIMO transmission comprising aplurality of streams, each stream of the MIMO transmission beingtransmitted by one of a plurality of user stations; signal-processingcircuitry to separate the plurality of streams of the MIMO transmission;and circuitry to accumulate signal information across the widebandchannel and provide the accumulated signal information to the signalprocessing circuitry, wherein when the wideband channel has a bandwidthof 40 MHz contiguous bandwidth, at least one of the streams comprises atransmission from one of the user stations over the 40 MHz contiguousbandwidth and the circuitry to accumulate signal information isconfigured to accumulate signal information over the 40 MHz contiguousbandwidth, wherein when the wideband channel has a bandwidth of 80 MHzcontiguous bandwidth, at least one of the streams comprises atransmission from one of the user stations over the 80 MHz contiguousbandwidth and the circuitry to accumulate signal information isconfigured to accumulate signal information over the 80 MHz contiguousbandwidth, and wherein when the wideband channel has a bandwidth of 160MHz contiguous bandwidth, at least one of the streams comprises atransmission from one of the user stations over the 160 MHz contiguousbandwidth and the circuitry to accumulate signal information isconfigured to accumulate signal information over the 160 MHz contiguousbandwidth.
 20. The MIMO receiver of claim 19 wherein the signalprocessing circuitry is configured to perform receive beamforming toseparate the plurality of spatial streams, and wherein the signalprocessing circuitry comprises fast-Fourier transform (FFT) circuitry toperform an FFT on signals received in each of the 20 MHz channels.